General Chat

Hello Yg and Maz. Just finally sat down after a very busy day. Very organised tonight though I have just done my online shop. For once I have remembered before the bank holiday is upon us LOL

Only two days to go for me and then I have twelve days off!! have only used 3 annual leave days, so plenty left! Yippee!

Too late she cried. Thanks for the chocolate warning DET, but it was after the fact. I now owe OH a whole block and I swear I won't eat the stuff again. Well I haven't had any for a few months and it is almost Easter. Can a woman help it if she is surrounded by the stuff everytime she ventures out.

I wondered if your reference to your lack of manual devices was tied to your internet. So pleased that is the case and there is not blood and bone strewn everywhere.

I gave up on Ancestry last night and sent them a please explain email. I expect there will be a "fault with my computer" reply coming my way.

Today is shed cleaning day. I think we have discussed this before. Not the big shed which OH has blocked with barbed wire and land mines!! The little shed, into which one throws everything one no longer needs or uses but just doesn't have the heart to chuck it out because one day it might be useful or become very valuable.

Today is the throwing out day. Out go all the knick knacks, the dust gatherers, the old stuff which is only a bit broken, the treasures of bygone years. Out they go to a pile on the back verandah where OH will sift through them and decide what will make the final journey to the WTS (Waste Transfer Station) / rubbish dump. I will then return the dump rejectees to the shed and if past experience is any guide, most of the pile will find its way back into the shed.

I warned OH I would be ruthless with my culling. He just gave me that stare which says, "we shall see!!"

Oh, poor Aunty! You have to get OH under control, you know!

I tidied my shed out two weeks ago. it spurred me on because my car was booked for a valeting and I didn't want to fill it with rubbish after I had parted with my hard earned money!! I have noone to argue so was very ruthless! I have lots of space now, although son tends to use me as a dumping ground when he is having a clear out! Like last Saturday, when I arrived home from shopping to find a white bookcase sitting on the back lawn!! Ideal for the shed, said he!!

My daughter is an ebay aficionado. If she doesn't need it it goes on ebay, if she needs it ebay is the first place she checks. If you don't need white bookcase in the shed, ebay is the best place for it!!

Armed with spider spray and crawly insect baits, out to the shed I go.

Ahhhhhhhhrhhhhggggggg.

Fast forward five hours. Ziiiiiiiiiiip!!

It is done. Aunty is a whizz at shed cleaning. Everything out of the shed, every box, carton, crate and container examined. One pile of that which is to be disposed placed over there. The good stuff placed over here.

Mr and Mrs Spider and the spiderkins bags packed and shown the door. The twenty five cockroach families offered assistance to move next door. And the two little mice who had built a nest in a box of souvenirs wrapped in newspaper. Well they were very lucky. Their choice was out into the yard and stay outside. Any critters who did not move fast enough were sucked up into OHs vacuum cleaner. This is the vacuum he uses to remove Spot's hair from the car seats. We had a conversation which went......

Me. Do you have another bag for your vacuum cleaner.
Him. What bag.

Me. The bag you have to empty after you have sucked up everything.
Him. Didn't know that vacuum had a bag.
Me. So you don't have another one
Him. Nope

For ten minutes Aunty stands over the rubbish bin pulling handful after handful of labrador hair from the little hole in the vacuum bag. All I need is four paws, a tail and two floppy ears and I could have another labrador.

Goes and vacuums the shed including anything with legs which can't run fast enough.

Me. OK just warning you that you had better not use the vacuum until I can buy a new bag.

Him, Why not?

Me. Because there are spiders and other things in that one.

Him. Can they get out.

Me. No idea, but if you see one clinging onto the end of the hose I suggest you hit it with something.

Shed is now tidy, clean, and full of empty space. Success.

Now we come to the discard pile. OH is very melancholy about this pile. He says it is like throwing away part of his life however, he accepts that he really does not need any of the items named "junk". He just sulks a bit.

I ask when will we take the junk to the dump. He answers I was thinking of doing it next week sometime. Warning bells clang in the brain. Hmmm that means he has several days to pick over the pile and hide it in his shed.

Looks awful untidy I was hoping to have it moved sooner than next week, I suggest.

We are doing it tomorrow. Now you know why my shed is only cleaned out every five years. And I did ask him if he would like the garden shed cleaned next. Wanna know the answer???!!

Oh Auntie - the graphic description really made me chuckle - a good thing to start the day with! sounds as if your 'little' shed is like our loft....although we did have a sort through a few years ago and have tried v hard not to replace the 'stuff'. My down fall are books - new or 2nd hand. We have 2 large Ikea bookcases in the living room. OH wanted me to thin it out. As it happened, the request occurred while PC had 'left home', meaning there were a number of empty shelves in her room. You guessed, most of the 'I've got rid of them' volumes went in there..............until BM opened his big mouth and let the cat out of the bag - lol

Do you have a 'freecycle' network in your part of the world? Its based on the internet and people post wanted and offer items to give away. Somethings sound like junk, but they all seem to be taken, even if broken. I keep meaning to drag the 25 year old pushchair (good condition kept for the 'grandchildren') out of 'his' garage. Designs have moved on and won't be wanted even if the aforesaid g'chd are ever hatched.

Oh well - another phone call to make. The speed to the router did go up yesterday, although it had no effect on the Internet speed (120kbs) Now it's dropped right back down to what it was - 160kbs. So a backward step. I suspect they reset the IP profile over night but there is still a fault which dropped it back down.

Sitting here LOL at the shed clearing, have you ever thought of writing a book AuntyS? I'd definitely buy it.......... and DET could hide her copy in with her offspring's belongings.

Oh heavens I thought I would bore you to tears so I left out the bits like where I feather dustered the daddy long leg spiders off the walls and the inside the roof and hoped they didn't fall into my hair.

And finding my black satin dressing gown and my long green skirt and my lovely blue skirt which I am keeping until I am thin again (that's been stored for about five years now), the thin does not seem to be happening.

I don't know of freecycle in this area. We have Goodwill and Salvos and other charity places which will take our unwanted furniture and clothing. I have a couple of bags of clothing. I might have inadvertently chucked in a few stray spiders which should liven up the good people when they unpack the offerings.

I am now suffering from a headache. Chocolate induced of course. Had to go buy OH another block of chocolate to replace that which I consumed last night. I am blotting my copybook right, left and centre. Clean shed and Aunty's eaten all his chocolate.

I love bookcases. I did tell you I was given a wall full for Christmas. Ikea ones as well. I am waiting for one more small addition shelf which fits on top of the others. It has been out of stock for a long time. Thinking of how easy it would be to buy the larger size and to chop, saw, nail and glue it to the right size. Oh renovations have given me lots of good ideas.

Goodness Aunty!! That has made me laugh and I was in desperate need, so thank you!

We have a lot of charity shops in the UK that sell clothes, books, housewares (not electrical), cds etc. They normally put a large polythene bag through the letterbox once in a while or you can take them in. They don't accept furniture though generally, I don't think.

The local council have a shop where you can gift furniture and they will collect from you on a pre-arranged date.They do them up a bit if required and sell them on.

Actually I am making good use of the bookcase in the shed. It's come in handy for storing some items as long as those measly creepy crawlies don't start nesting in it!!

Oh, btw, does anyone have a solution for getting rage out other than throwing things, because I need to tonight!!

Get rid of anger by going into the garden and take it out on the weeds LOL. I have been out in mine all afternoon and it don't look much different LOL. I have rather neglected it for a good while.

The Bottle bank! Those empty jam jars and (ahem) other glass receptacles make a lovely crashing/tinkling noise!

I'm not here. Tat Tah.

The trouble with breaking things is you need to be careful it is not something you need. Go buy a second hand dinner set and smash that. Remember you will have to clean up the mess. Alternatively you could try a very brisk walk where you can spend your time muttering under your breath dire and dreadful bodily injuries you will perform on the object of your rage. If you can get to a gym or fitness centre that has many outlets for hissy fits.

And if counting to ten does not work, try twenty or thirty and throw things.

Morning all - hope you are feeling a bit more relaxed today YG.

Is it this week or next that Maz is going to S? She is awol!

Internet speed is positively skipping along today at 1.11mbs. Still slow, but over 100% better than it was. Another 'man' is due to call today. We are really fed up with the regular problems.

Update - &Co has got the job he interviewed for last week! He is now Head of IT Service Delivery and Application support (UK) for a major oil company based in Surrey. Woo Hoo!

Oh, that sounds important DET. Big congratulations being sent down the cyber hatch to him, from me.

Congratulations to the appointee.

Does this mean your internet will now run faster!!!!!
Does it mean your petrol will be cheaper!!!

Working on the tree
I am stuck looking for a convict sent to Oz in 1828. I have him in Australia and think I know where he was sentenced but can't find his family. Census is out of the question because of the date. Do I look at parish records in the area where he was sentenced. You lot don't happen to have a list of convicts sent to the colonies??? I thought Ancestry might have something but the info is very sparse.

Afternoon all,

Great news DET wish OH well from me.

Aunty you could try the parish records, although saying that I have a relative who was sentenced miles from his home. Which parish was he supposed to have been living in ?

Hi Pauline, lovely day again isn't it?

Thank you - I'll pass on the congratulations. I wish he could get a discount on petrol!!! And to be honest, we do ask him to sort out computer problems when they come to visit. He 'talked the talk' on our behalf to the BT service desk, but wasn't able to do anything physical from our end.

AS - have you looked on TonyOz' thread about Australian resources?

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards.page/board/tips_board/thread/1164799

You may already be aware of them, but who knows? And ditto what LG said about PR. We can but try.

Have you looked at A**s Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849? Anything useful there?

Evening everyone.

Congratulations to DET's &Co on his success. Well done!

I think he should come and work in our IT dept instead, It would save me having rages!!

Finished now until 3rd May so spring cleaning, gardening and chilling are on the cards now!!

Me thinks Maz had her secret rendevous yesteday. I did feel a few tremors last night lol!!